Semiautomatic telegraph keying system



Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEMIAUTOMATIC TELEGRAPH KEYING SYSTEM 5 Claims.

The present invention relates to telegraphic keying systems and devices and more particularly to a. novel manually controlled semiautomatic keying system or device.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel semiautomatic telegraph key or keying device or system whereby a continuous series of dashes as well as a continuous series of dots can both be produced automatically by single manual movements of the key in opposite directions from a central position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel manually controlled semiautomatic telegraphic keying system comprising a transmission circuit, two separate keying circuits connected in parallel to the transmission circuit, a manually actuated telegraph key connected to alternately control the keying circuits to produce dots and dashes in the transmission circuit, electrical timing means including capacity and resistance elements in one of said keying circuits and so timed and connected that upon' actuation of the key to control said one keying circuit a continuous series of dots is automatically produced in the transmission circuit, and other electrical timing means including'capacity and resistance elements in the other keying circuit and so timed and connected that upon actuation of the key to control said other keying circuit a continuous series oi dashes is produced in said transmission circuit.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter f-roma consideration of the detailed description which follows, taken together with the accompanying single sheet of drawing wherein two embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. lit is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing is for purposes of illustration and description only and is not to be construed as defining the limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claimsi r i In the drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts in the two embodiments shown:

Fig, 1 shows diagrammatically one type of novel circuit employed in achieving the results or the present invention, together with such mechanical details as are requisite to an explanation of the operation; and

Fig. 2 is similar to Fig. l but shows another type of novel circuit embodying the present invention.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Fig. 1, the novel keying system comprises,

as shown, a transmission circuit 3 and two keying circuits 4 and 5 connected in parallel to said transmission circuit 3 by leads 6, l and 8, 9, respectively. v

The keying circuit 4 comprises a relay l having a core I I provided with a winding I2 thereon, one end of which is connected to a fixed contact l3 of a hand key M and the other end of which is connected through a fixed resistor l of approximately 1500 Ohms resistance and through a pair of normally closed contacts l6 and I! to one side of a battery I8 by means of leads i9 and 20, the other side of said battery being connected to the manually actuated key M. The contact [6 r is a fixed contact while cont-act I1 is a movable contact and comprises the armature of a relay 2 I, the cont-acts Hi, I! being normally held closed by means of a spring .22 connected to the armature I1 in such a manner as to urge the same into engagement with the fixed contact l6 until such time as relay 2| becomes energized as will be apparent more fully hereinafter.

The relay 21 comprises a core 23 having a winding 24 one end of which is connected to one side of the battery It by means of lead 24a and I, lead 20, and the other end of which is connected through a variable resistor or rheostat 25 of approximately 1000 ohms resistance to a movable contact 26 which is adapted to engage a fixed contact 21 upon energization oi the winding I2 of relay II] when the hand actuated key M is moved int-o engagement with the contact [3, the

contacts 26, 21 being normally held open by means of a spring 28. Connected to but insulated from movable contact 2 6 and movable therewith is another movable contact 29 which is adapted to engage a fixed contact 30 upon energization of the winding l2 of relay ID, the contacts 29, 30 being normally held open by means of the same spr :g 28. the contacts 29, 30 are closed an impulse is produced in the transmission circuit 3. In the present embodiment, the impulse would be in the form oi a dot of the Morse code the length of the dot and the length of the interval between successive dots produced by closing oi the contacts 29, 30 being determined by a timing circuit 3| which is connected in parallel with the relay 2 l and which will now be described.

The timing circuit 3| comprises, as illustrated, a variable condenser 32 which in the present instance is a dry electrolytic condenser of approximately forty microrarads across which are connected a fixed resistor 33 of' appromrnately 200 ohms and a 'rheos-tat 34 of approximately 1000 ohms through a movable contact '35 and a fixed contact 35,- the contacts 35, 35 being norm-ally held open by means of a spring 31 and adapted to be closed upon energization of the winding 24 of the relay 2|.

The keying circuit 5 is similar to the keying circuit 4 and comprises a relay 38 comprising a core 39 having a winding 40 one end of which is connected to a fixed con-tact 4| of the hand actuated key M and the other end of which is connected through a fixed resistor 42 of approximately 1500 ohms resistance and through a normally closed pair of contacts 43, 44 to one side of the battery l8 by means of a lead 45 and a lead 46, the other side of the battery It being connected, as previously stated, to the movable portion of the hand key 4. The contact 43 is a fixed contact while the contact 44 is a movable contact and comprises an armature of a relay 41, said contacts being normally held closed by means of a spring 48.

The relay 41 comprises a core 49 having a wind ing 50 one end of which is connected to the battery I8 by means of a lead 5| and the lead 45 to which the lead 5| is connected as shown. The other end of the winding 55 is connected through a rheostat 52 of approximately 2000 ohms resistance to a movable contact 53 which comprises an armature of the relay 35 and which upon ener gization of said relay 39 when the hand key M is moved in engagement with fixed contact 4| is adapted to engage a fixed contact 54, said contacts 53, 54 being normally held open by means of a spring 55.

Connected to but insulated from movable contact 5S and movable therewith is another movable contact 55 which is adapted to engage a fixed contact 51 upon energization of the relay 33, said contacts 56, 51 being normally held open by means of the same spring 55. When contacts 55, 51 are closed upon energization of relay 38 when the hand key 4 is moved into engagement with fixed contact 4| an impulse is produced in the transmission circuit 3, which impulse, in the present instance, will be in the form of a dash of the Morse code, the length of the dash and the length of the interval between successive dashes being determined by another timing circuit 58 connected in parallel with relay 41.

The timing circuit 58 is substantially similar to the timing circuit 3| except that its timing operation is difierent and for this reason is provided with a variable condenser 59 of approximately microfarads instead of 40 microfarads. Across the variable condenser 59 are connected a fixed resistor 00 of approximately 200 ohms resistance and a rheostat 5! of approximately 1000 ohms resistance through a movable contact 62 and a fixed contact 53, the contacts 62, 63 being normally held open by means of a spring 64 until the relay 41 becomes energized upon closing of the contacts 53, 54. p

The operation of the foregoing arrangement is as follows: When the key M is actuated into engagement with the fixed contact I3 the relay l0 becomes energized through the limiting resistance l5 and normally closed contacts l5, N. This begins the transmission of a dot through contacts 29, 30 of the relay ID, the movable contact 29 being moved simultaneously with contact 26 upon energization of the relay W as previously stated. Therefore, upon energization of the relay l0 contacts 25, 21 are likewise closed at the same time as contacts 29, 30 thereby starting operation of the relay 2| since the latterbecomes energized upon closing of said contacts 25, 21. The operation of the relay 2| is delayed by the condenser 32 which is time-controlled by the rheostat 25.

When the relay 2| is energized it pulls movable contact |1 out of engagement with the contact 5 against the tension of the spring 32 whereupon the relay I0 becomes de-energized and contacts 29, 35 are opened by means of the spring 23 at which time the impulse in the transmission circuit is ended, i. e. upon opening of the contacts 25, 35 the end of the dot occurs. At the same time, due to the opening of the contacts 26, 21 upon deenergization of relay l0, current from the battery l8 through the winding 24 of relay 2| is cut off but the relay 2| continues to be energized by current produced by the discharging of the condenser 32 which previously became charged when the contacts 26, 21 were closed. The time required to discharge the condenser 32 and to completely deenergize the relay 2| is controlled by the rheostat 34 through contacts 35, 36 which are closed while relay 2| is energized. This likewise controls the length of the interval between successive dots.

If the key i4 is held in engagement with the contact |3, the contacts |6, H are closed by the spring 22 upon de-energization of the relay 2| whereupon the relay I0 again becomes energized and the same sequence of operation takes place as before. Thus, as long as the key I4 is held in engagement with the contact l3 the relay Ill becomes energized and de-energized continually, the period of energization and de-energization being determined by the delay action of the relay 2 l, the delaying interval being in turn determined by the value of the condenser 32 and the rheostat 25.

The same sequence of operation takes place when the hand key I4 is actuated into engagement with the fixed contact 4| except that the relay 33 remains energized for a longer period than the relay l0 by virtue of the fact that the rheostat 52 has a resistance of 2000 ohms as compared to the rheostat 25 which has a resistance of only 1000 ohms and, also by virtue of the fact that the capacity of the variable condenser 59 is 100 microfarads as compared to the capacity of l the variable condenser 32 which is only 40 microfarads.

' Thus, when the hand key I4 is actuated into engagement with the contact 4| the relay 38 becomes energized through the resistor 42 and closed contacts 43, 44. Upon energization of the relay 38 contacts 53, 54 and. contacts 56, 51 are closed against the tension of the spring 55. Closing of the contacts 56, 51 produces an impulse in the transmission circuit 3. Simultaneously, however, the relay 41 becomes energized through the rheostat 52 by virtue of the closing of the contacts 53, 54. Energization of the relay 41 immediately opens the contacts 43, 44 and closes contacts 62, 63 against the tension of the spring 64. As soon as contacts 43, 44 are opened, current through winding 50 of relay 41 from the battery I8 is cut ofi but the winding continues to be temporarily energized by the discharging current from the condenser 59. As soon as the condenser 59 is discharged, however, the relay 41 becomes energized and contacts 43, 44 are closed by means of the spring 48. If the key I4 is held in engagement with the fixed contact 4| the relay 38 then becomes energized again and the sequence of operation is repeated so that impulses in the form of dashes will be continued to be produced in the transmission circuit 3 as long 4als key I4 is held in engagement with contac Referring to Fig. 2 the system is substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 1 except that the resistors 33 and 60 of Fig. 1 are eliminated and in lieu of contacts 35, 36 and contacts 62, 63 of Fig. 1 there are provided contacts 65, 66 in the keying circuit 4 and contacts 61, 68 in the'keying circuit 5, the contacts '65, 66 being normally closed while the contacts 26, 21 and contacts 29, 39 are held open by the spring 28 until the relay l becomes energized. Likewisec'ontacts 61, 68 are normally held closed while the contacts 56, 51 and contacts 53,- 54 are held open by the spring 55.

Since contacts 65, 66 and contacts 61, 68 are normally held closed the rheostat 34 is in shunt with the condenser 32, and rheostat 6| is in shunt with the condenser 59 by virtue'of the factthat contact 66 which is a fixed contact is connected to the lead 20 by means of lead 69, and contact 68 which is also a fixed contact is connected to lead 46 by means of lead 10.

The operation of Fig. 2 is as follows: When the key M is actuated into engagement with contact 4| the relay 38 becomes energized through resistor 42 and normally closed contacts 43, 44. Energization of relay 38 closes contacts 53-, 54 and contacts 56, 51 and opens contacts 61, 68. The closing of contacts 56, 51 produces the beginning of an impulse in the transmission circuit 3, which begins a dash in the present instance. Closing of contacts 53, 54 causes energization of relay 41 through rheostat 52 but simultaneously causes charging of the condenser 59 so that energization of the relay 41 is delayed until the condenser 59 becomes charged through the rheostat 52. The time of charge of the condenser 59 is controlled by the value of the rheostat 52 and.

the capacity of condenser 59. As soon as the condenser 59 becomes charged, the relay 41 becomes energized whereupon contacts 43, 44 are opened. Opening of the contacts 43, 44 causes de-energization of relay 38 whereupon contacts 53, 54 and contacts 56, 51 are opened and the end of the dash occurs and the interval between said dash and the next dash now begins. Although contacts 53, 54 are opened at this time, the relay 41 continues to be energized by the discharged current from condenser 59 since contacts 61, 68 are now closed so that the rheostat 6| is shunted across the condenser 59 and relay 41. The value of the rheostat 6| determines the rate of discharge of the condenser 59 and the length of time before relay 41 becomes de-energized at which time the contacts 43, 44 are closed by the spring 48 and the end of the interval between dashes occurs. If the key M is held in engagement with contact 4| the cycle of operation is repeated to produce another dash.

When the key 14 is actuated into engagement with contact l3 the same cycle of operation occurs as when said key is actuated into engagement with contact 4| except that contacts 29, 30 and contacts 26, 21 remain closed for a shorter time than contacts 53, 54 and contacts 56, 51 so that a dot is produced instead of a dash. If key [4 is held in engagement with contact |3 the cycle of operation is continually repeated to produce a continuous series of dots in the transmission circuit 3, the length of the dots being determined by the capacity of the condenser 32 and the value of the rheostat 25, while the length of the interval between successive dots is determined by the value of the rheostat 34.

.There is thus provided a novel manually actuated telegraph key or keying system which autotion have been illustrated and described, various changes in the form and relative arrangement of the parts and circuits, which will now appear to those skilled in the art, may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Reference is therefore to be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A semiautomatic telegraph keying system comprising a transmission circuit, two separate keying circuits connected in parallel to the transmission circuit, a manually actuated telegraph key connected to alternately control the keying circuits to produce dots and clashes in the transmission circuit, electrical timing means including first relay means and capacity and resist ance elements in one'of said keying circuits and so timed and connected that upon actuation of the key to control said one keying circuit a continuous series of dots is automatically produced in the transmission circuit, and other electrical timing means including second relay means and capacity and resistance elements in the other keying circuit and so timed and connected that upon actuation of the key to control said other keying circuit a continuous series of dashes is produced in said transmission circuit.

2. A semiautomatic telegraphic keying system comprising a transmission circuit, a manually actuated key, and two keying circuits alternately controlled by said key and connected in parallel to said transmission circuit, each of said keying circuits comprising a source of current, a relay having a winding adapted to be energized by said source upon actuation of said key, a resistance element and a pair of normally closed contacts in series with said relay winding, two other pairs of normally open contacts adapted to be closed simultaneously upon energization of said relay, one pair of said two pairs of contacts being connected to said transmission circuit to produce an impulse therein upon closing of said'one pair of contacts, a second relay having a winding adapted to be energized upon closing of the other pair of said two pairs of contacts and to open the first-mentioned pair of contacts, a third pair of normally open contacts associated with said second relay to be closed by said relay upon energization thereof, and electrical timing means comprising resistance and capacity elements for controlling the energization and de-energization of the winding of said second relay upon closing and opening of the other pair of said two pairs of contacts, whereby the initial opening and the final closing of the first-mentioned pair of contacts are delayed for a predetermined length of time, the time interval of the timing means of one keying circuit being longer than the time interval of the timing means of the other keying circuit.

3. A semiautomatic telegraphic keying system comprising a transmission circuit, a manually actuated key, and two keying circuits alternately controlled by said key and connected in parallel to said transmission circuit, each of said keying circuits comprising a source of current, a relay having a winding adapted to be energized by said source upon actuation of said key, a resistance element and a pair of normally closed contacts in series with said relay winding, three other pairs of contacts simultaneously controlled by said relay, one pair of said three other pairs of contacts being normally closed and adapted to be opened upon energization of said relay winding, and the second and third pairs of said three other pairs of contacts being normally open and adapted to be closed upon energization of said relay winding, the third pair of said three other pairs of contacts being connected to said transmission circuit to produce an impulse therein upon closing of said second pair of contacts, a second relay having a winding adapted to be energized upon closing of the second pair of said three other pairs of contacts, and electrical timing means comprising resistance and capacity elements for controlling the energization and deenergization of the Winding of said second relay upon closing and opening of the second pair of said three pairs of contacts, whereby the initial opening and final closing of the first-mentioned pair of contacts are delayed for a predetermined length of time, the time interval of the timing means of one keying circuit being longer than the time interval of the timing means of the other keying circuit.

4. A semiautomatic telegraphic keying system comprising a transmission circuit, a manually actuated key, and two keying circuits alternately controlled by said key and connected in parallel to said transmission circuit, each of said keying circuits comprising a source of current, a relay having a winding adapted to be energized by said source upon actuation of said key, a resistance element and a pair of normally closed contacts in series with said relay winding, two other pairs of normally open contacts adapted to be closed simultaneously upon energization of said relay, one pair of said two pairs of contacts being connected to said transmission circuit to produce an impulse therein upon closing of said one pair of contacts, a second relay having a winding adapted to be energized upon closing of the other pair of said two pairs of contacts and to open the firstmentioned pair of contacts, a third pair of normally open contacts associated with said second relay to be closed by said relay upon energization thereof, electrical timing means comprising resistance and capacity elements forcontrolling the energization and de-energization of the winding of said second relay upon closing and opening of the other pair of said two pairs of contacts, whereby the initial opening and the final closing of the first-mentioned pair of contacts are delayed for a predetermined length of time, the time interval of the timing means of one keying circuit being longer than the time interval of the timing means of the other keying circuit, and means for adjusting said time intervals.

5- A semiautomatic telegraphic keying system comprising a transmission circuit, a manually actuated key, and twokeying circuits alternately controlled by said key and connected in parallel to said transmission circuit, each of said keying circuits comprising a source of current, a relay having awinding adapted to be energized by said source upon actuation of said key, a resistance element and a pair of normally closed contacts in series with said relay winding, three other pairs of contacts simultaneously controlled by said re lay, one pair of said three other pairs of contacts being normally closed and adapted to be opened upon energization of said relay winding, and the second and third pairs of said three other pairs of contacts being normally open and adapted to be closed upon energization of said relay winding, the third pair of said three other pairs of contacts being connected to said transmission circuit to produce an impulse therein upon closing of said second pair of contacts, a second relay having a winding adapted to be energized upon closing of the second pair of said three other pairs of contacts, electrical timing means comprising resistance and capacity elements for controlling the energization and de-energization of the winding of said second relay upon closing and opening of the second pair of said three pairs of contacts, whereby the initial opening and final closing of the first-mentioned pair of contacts are delayed for a predetermined length of time, the time interval of the timing means of one keying circuit being longer than the time interval or" the timing means of the other keying circuit, and means for adjusting said time intervals.

IVAN BOOR. 

